“Let it Snow” Winter Storytime/Craft (Ages 3-9)

 

“Whether or not there is snow outside, we can have some winter fun inside with fun stories and songs, plus an indoor snowball fight and a snowman craft.”
I also do this as a straight preschool storytime without accompanying craft.

Though we have already had way too much winter weather,
this storytime was planned a long time ago!

Book: The Snowy Day - Ezra Jack Keats  (This classic Caldecott-winning title offers opportunities to mimic Peter (e.g. toes in, toes out), ask questions (what could be making that third line in the snow?)
STEM opportunity – discuss what happened to the snowball in Peter’s pocket? (warm house -- melted – pocket would be wet, later it would be dry – “evaporation” – faster if you put coat in the drier)
Alts: Snow – Uri Shulevitz  (often use this video at end of program) or Blizzard -- John Rocco (especially with school age groups)

Snowflake Rhyme  (5 snowflakes, 1 sun, numeral cards) (source unknown) (numeration practice -- have kid volunteers select the correct numeral cards as we add the snowflakes)

 

One little snowflake with nothing to do.

Along came another and then there were two.
Two little snowflakes laughing with me…three.
Three little snowflakes looking for some more…four.
Four little snowflakes dancing a jive…five.
Five little snowflakes having so much fun.
Out came the sun, and Then there were none!

and/or  Snowflakes Falling Action Song: (Tune: "London Bridge," source unknown)

Snowflakes falling from the sky,
from the sky, from the sky,
Snowflakes falling from the sky
To the ground below.
Watch them as they dance and whirl,
dance and whirl, dance and whirl,
Watch them as they dance and whirl
-- Soft white winter snow.

Book: Snowballs – Lois Ehlert  (a perfect inspiration for creative crafts, also makes a good book for early literacy -- can use spelling to guess identity of each snow creature: m-o-m, b-o-y, c-a-t, etc.) <– skipped in 2017 used for “Bundle Up” 
2017 substituted Toys Meet Snow – Emily Jenkins

Glove Puppet: 5 little Snowmen All in a Row (source unknown, used numeral cards)

Five little snowmen all in a row
Each with a hat and a big red bow
Out came the sun and it stayed all day
And one of the snowmen melted away.  4. 3. 2. 1…

Action Song: I’m a Little Snowman (to “I’m a Little Teapot”, suit actions to words)
I’m a little snowman, short and fat
Here is my broomstick, here is my hat.
When the sun comes out, I’ll melt away
Drip drip drip I’m a puddle today!

Book: Snowmen at Night – Caralyn Buehner
(Alts. Sneezy the Snowman – Wright, All You Need for a Snowman – Alice Schertle)

Booktalked DVD: Raymond Brigg's The Snowman (wonderful wordless video with beautiful soundtrack) -- also on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTaq20TN4ao  or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmzZKfse7_c

Flannel Snowman/Bunny Puppet: Chubby Little Snowman (source unknown)

A chubby little snowman
Had a carrot nose.
Along came a bunny
And what do you suppose?
That chubby little bunny
Looking for his lunch
Ate that little snowman’s nose
Nibble, Nibble, Crunch!

Book/Song: Frosty the Snowman – Steve Nelson & Jack Rollins


Song/Flannel: In the Freezer –  by Joe Scruggs  Song on Joe Scrugg’s “Traffic Jams”
Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woEPJhmQous (used with Snowballs-Ehlert for “Bundle Up” storytime 2017)

There was snow on the ground
But it was a sunny day.
We knew that our snowman
Was going to melt away.
So we asked our Mom
And though it did not please her,
She said we could keep
Our snowman in the freezer.

Chorus:He’s in the freezer,
He’s our snowman.
He’s in the freezer,
Getting a frost tan.
He’s in the freezer,
Keeps as cold as he can.
He doesn’t go to school,
He just keeps cool,
In the freezer –

We feed him bits of frost
And lots of ice cubes.
We show him to our friends
When we come home from school.
We watch him as he sits
Next to the frozen squash,
‘Til Dad shuts the door and says,
“It’s starting to defrost. Chorus

One night at suppertime
My Mom said it was sad
As she told us of the ice cream
That we could have had.
Our snowman was taking up
All the room it seems,
And she didn’t have a place
To put our ice cream. 

Final Chorus:He’s on the sidewalk
And he’s melting fast.
You know a snowman
Was not meant to last.
It won’t be long now
Before he melts away
And we’re having ice cream
For dessert today!
It’s in the freezer!


VHS/DVD: Snow - Uri Shulevitz or The Snowy Day -- Ezra Jack Keats

Activity: Snowball fight using plastic bag snowballs, to the music “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson (on album Season’s Greetings)
Making snowballs for the program:
1) Gather a white plastic grocery bag into a long, skinny tube-like length with the handles on one end.
2) Fold the length in half, then in half again.
3) Wind a rubber band around the middle until it is tight.
4) Cut open both ends to remove any folded areas.
5) Then fluff out pieces
Idea courtesy of:  Susan Dailey, librarian, speaker and author of "A Storytime Year"

Additional book possibilities:
Snow -- Manya Stojic
Stranger in the Woods -- Sams
Rabbit's Snow Dance – Bruchac

Crafts:

Snow creatures (inspired by Ehlert’s book) – Materials: White & colored construction paper, markers, scissors, glue, pompoms, buttons, feathers, etc.

Cut out paper snowflakes http://thechocolatemuffintree.blogspot.com/2012/12/making-giant-snowflakes.html (could use large tissue paper) (booktalked Snowflake Bentley – another Caldecott)
 
Another possibility: If Picasso Painted a Snowman by Amy & Greg Newbold

1/13, 1/15 (storytime w/o craft), 1/17 – storytime/snowball fight/snowball&snowflake making craft

See also carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2014/12/winter-storytimetheatercraft-jan-bretts.html & http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2014/01/pre-school-storytime-button-up-for.html

http://www.hbook.com/2015/01/choosing-books/snowy-days/

Storytime Shake Up -- Jazzing Up Storytime Programs

Storytime Shake Up -- Jazzing Up Storytime Programs
Extended Version of the Youth Services Forum Program

Presented by Carol Simon Levin, Youth Services Librarian, Somerset County Library.

I have been doing storytimes for 20+ years and love to "jazz them up." Most of the plans for programs I've done in the last couple of years are posted here on my blog: CarolSimonLevin.blogspot.com. You can also search the blog for any of the items listed below to find their use in context.  Email me if you want me to share any patterns.

Today, will be:

*sharing favorite flannelboards,

* participatory story-sharing/theater (e.g. showing how we act out Halloween stories, The Three Little Pigs in my Houses & Homes storytime, Green Eggs & Ham for Dr. Seuss Day, a Hopi Rainstick story for our Rain storytime),

* piggyback songs to reinforce activity sequencing (e.g."This is the way" for the steps in baking after we read The Little Red Hen),

*using sign language songs (we call it "dancing with our hands" - Pick Me Up: Fun Songs for Learning Signs is a great resource),

*action songs and surprises (e.g. indoor "snowball fight"),

*and a variety of other things I do regularly to jazz up the traditional book- flannel-song/fingerplay rhythm of storytime.

Fall favorites -- interactive Halloween stories & songs, a turkey towel-folding story for Thanksgiving...

· "Brand New Day" (sign language song) from Pick Me Up: Fun Songs for Learning Signs 

· One by Kathryn Otashi bullying/concept book

· Monkey Face by Frank Asch -- flannel

· "Look There Daddy Do You See?" -- flannel song, make up verses

· "School Stuff" from A Storytime Year by Susan Dailey-- flannel

· Moonkey by Mike Thayer -- flannel

· "Aikendrum" by Raffi -- flannel song

· Little Red House with No Doors...-- flannel/hanging signs

· Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman = Great Big Enormous Turnip -- flannel/participatory story-acting

· Rotten Pumpkin by David M. Schwartz -- non-fiction potential reader's theater!

· The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams -- flannel/participatory story-acting

· One Dark Night by Edna Mitchell Preston - flannel/participatory story-acting

· "Old McDonald Had a Haunted House" -- piggyback song clip art flannel

· Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems

· It's Monster Day by Linda Arnold -- pinking sheers flannel

· I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson -- prop

· "Ten Friends - Diez Amigos" -- glove puppets

· Towel folding story: The Case of the Missing Thanksgiving Turkey -- Rhonda Turley  

· "The Turkey Shot Out of the Oven" words: Jack Prelutsky, chorus: Cathy Darby – song

Winter favorites -- snowball fights, stone soup, counting cookies…

· Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathon London -- participatory story-acting

· The Mitten by Jan Brett -- participatory story-acting, prop

· Frosty the Snowman by Steve Nelson

· "In the Freezer" by Joe Scruggs -- flannel/song

· Snowball Fight -- plastic bag snowballs Leroy Anderson's Sleigh Ride

· Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Tabeck

· "Hi, My Name is Joe and I Work in a Button Factory" -- action (Also good to pair with Herve Tullet's Press Here)

· The Little Red Hen -- various versions

· "This is the Way" -- piggyback songs

· The Cake That Mack Ate by Rose Robart-- flannel

· The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins -- flannel math concepts

· The Gingerbread Man -- flannel/masks

· "Helping" from Free to Be You and Me -- flannel

· The Little Red Hen (Makes a Pizza) by Philemon Sturges

· "I Am a Pizza" by Linda Arnold -- flannel

· "On Top of Spaghetti" -- flannel

· Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert,

· "This is the Way We Make the Soup" -- piggyback song "Mulberry Bush"

· Mean Soup by Betsy Everitt

· "If You're Happy and You Know it...sad, angry, loving"... piggyback song

· Doing the Chocolate Shake -- action

· Stone Soup -- puppets & props, participatory storytelling

· Alphabet Soup by Tom Chapin -- flannel

· Monkey Soup by Louis Sachar

· Chicken Soup with Rice by Maurice Sendak, tune from Really Rosie -- enlarged pages

· "Popcorn" by Linda Arnold -- action song

Spring Favorites-- interactive Earth Dance, Three Little Pigs, Napping House, Hopi Rainstick…

· Green Eggs & Ham by Dr. Seuss -- participatory story-acting

· "On My Head I Wear a Hat" -- Cat in the Hat hat, song Seussapalooza

· "Deep in the Jungle" by Joe Scruggs -- puppet/flannel song

· "Alligator Pie" by Dennis Lee -- make up your own verses

· "I'm Being Swallowed by a Big Alligator" -- action song

· "There's a Dinosaur Knocking at My Door" by Linda Arnold -- puppet song

· "Down by the Bay" by Raffi -- flannel song

· "And the Green Grass Grew All Around" -- flannel song

· Earth Dance by Joanne Ryder -- participatory story-acting

· Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson -- participatory story-acting

· All the Water in the World by George Ella Lyon -- simple but very profound

· Rainstorm – interactive action chant

· The Frog: Hopi Rainstick Story -- rainstick, puppets

· "Walk the World Now Children" by Tom Chapin -- sign language song

· A Squash and a Squeeze by Julia Donaldson -- great to act out this story with a large box or card table

· Mouse House -- flannel shapes

· The Three Little Pigs -- participatory storytelling

· "Cluck Cluck Red Hen" by Raffi -- flannel/puppet song

· The Napping House by Audrey Wood -- prop story

These and many more ideas are posted on my blog: CarolSimonLevin.blogspot.com.
Historical impersonation programs for adults & children are at: tellingherstories.com.

Questions?  Patterns? Please feel free to contact me at:
cslevin59 (at) gmail (dot) com
or call 908 526-4016 x126.

 

Carol Simon Levin presents Interactive Stories & Songs for all Reasons & Seasons!

Halloween Hootenanny * Dinosaur Roar * Bundle Up * Houses & Homes * Holiday Happenings * Seussapalooza * Earth Day * Animal Antics * Summer Fun * Folk Tale Frolics

A Sampling of S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) Programs:

A library is a feast to which we are all invited. -- Katherine Paterson

A library is a place full of mouth-watering food for thought. -- Diana Wynne-Jones

If you don't like to read, there are books out there that you will love...and this is why librarians were invented. -- Linda Sue Park

presented to Union County Children's Librarians, 2/20/15

Storytime: Button Up for Winter Weather!

greenshot test froggy

 Bundle up with this program for warming up on a cold winter’s day

Fun interactive program of stories and songs 

incorporating early literacy and numeracy skills, sequencing,
vocabulary (unusual animals), following directions, 

plus an indoor snowball fight to use up some cooped-up energy!

 Entrance Music: “Belly Button” by Joe Scruggs on his album: Late Last Night

Book: Froggy Gets Dressed – Jonathon London (kids act out motions and shout out “FROGGY...Have you forgotten something?”) (Alt. for young kids: Bear Gets Dressed: A Guessing Game Story – Harriet Ziefert, Other great underwear-themed titles: Bear in Long Underwear -- Todd H. Doodler, Naked by Michael Ian Black (kids LOVE!)

Froggy clearly had trouble wearing clothes – so do these animals…Flannel: Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing – Judi Barrett (Cut out from a book whose spine had broken -- made it easy for us to as a Q&A: animal identification, reasoning—why wearing clothing would be a problem for the animal, vocabulary development – animal names, “suspenders”)

Action Song: This is the Way… (sequencing: getting dressed) (Tune: “Mulberry Bush”)

This is the way we put on our coat,
Put on our coat, put on our coat,
This is the way we put on our coat,
To play outside in the snow.
Continue with other articles of clothing…
(Could also use: Action/Sign Language Song: When It’s Cold Outside from “Pick Me Up: Fun Songs for Learning Signs”) 

Here’s another animal looking for something warm to wear…but she makes some mistakes...
Book: A Hat for Minerva Louse – Janet Morgan Stoeke  

Action Song: We Dress Like That (mention concept of "piggy-back songs" Source Unknown, Tune: “Head & Shoulders, Knees & Toes”—repeated several times)
Boots, jacket, scarf and hat, scarf and hat.
Boots, jacket, scarf and hat, scarf and hat.
In wintertime we dress like that,
Boots, jacket, scarf and hat, scarf and hat.

Participatory Storytelling: The Mitten by Jan Brett

Act out story with puppets (old lady, boy) and masks from www.janbrett.com – you can draw an enormous mitten on a white plastic tablecloth with thick black marker, place it on the floor and have adults hold down the corners while the Iibrarian narrates the story and the children (holding laminated masks from the Jan Brett website), step on and huddled together, at the “aachoo” we all jumped off and threw the tablecloth into the air! 
Other versions here: http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2014/12/winter-storytimetheatercraft-jan-bretts.html

The Mitten Song

Thumbs in the thumb place
Fingers all together
This is the song we sing when it's mitten weather
It doesn't matter whether
They are made of wool or leather
Thumbs in the thumb place
Fingers all together

Singable Book: Frosty the Snowman – Steve Nelson
Snowmen don’t need coats to go outside, but people do!

Action Song: I’m a Little Snowman (Sung to: “I’m a Little Teapot”)
I’m a little snowman, short and fat
Here is my broomstick, here is my hat
When the sun comes out, I’ll melt away
Drip, drip, drip, I’m a puddle today!

Young group so skipped : Flannel/Song: In the Freezer (Song on Joe Scrugg’s “Traffic Jams”) lyrics to this and additional winter songs here: http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2015/01/singalong-winters-day.html

Close with Activity: indoor snowball fight using plastic bag snowballs, to the music “Sleigh Ride”, track #5 on album 20th Century Masters: Season's Greetings- The Millennium Collection
Making snowballs for the program:
1) Gather a white plastic grocery bag into a long, skinny tube-like length with the handles on one end.
2) Fold the length in half, then in half again.
3) Wind a rubber band around the middle until it is tight.
4) Trim both ends to remove any folded areas.
5) Make 2 or 3 vertical cuts in both ends.
6) Then fluff out pieces
Idea courtesy of:  Susan Dailey, librarian, speaker and author of "A Storytime Year" 

Other possibilities: 

Book: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat – Simms Tabeck (folk tale with great cut-out reveals; briefly mention Caldecott Award) (Optional, show another version of same tale: Something from Nothing – Phoebe Gilman)

Another Joe who has a problem with buttons...

Action: Hi, My Name is Joe & I work in a button Factory (traditional, left-right identification)
Hi my name is Joe & I work in a button factory.
One day, my boss said “Joe, are you busy?”
“I said “no”” – so he said “Turn this button with your right hand” (do this)
Repeat: left hand, right foot, left foot, head…finally
I said YES!!!!!!”

Or flannel/prop song (to tune: “Mary Had Little Lamb”) (memory-sequencing)
Joseph had an overcoat, overcoat, over coat…it got old and worn.
So he made a little jacket etc. ..continue thru button…lost button…then he made this little song….

1A few more buttons...
Book: Press Here – Herve Tullet (kids press the dots and are thrilled with the changes, cause & effect, numeracy, left-right identification, patterns)

along with a cat... YouTube Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons – Eric Litwin  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7va0beuK58

Hand Stamping Music: “Belly Button” by Joe Scruggs on his album: Late Last Night

Another great title (longer): The Trouble With Trolls - Eve Bunting

CDPL 1/2/2023

School Age S.T.E.A.M. Storytime & Craft: Very Special Trees

 

A seasonal storytime incorporating history & empathy, fantasy, gratefulness & giving back

Ask who’s seen the Rockefeller Tree?

Book: The Carpenter’s Gift: A Christmas Tale about the Rockefeller Center Tree by David Rubel (Construction workers at the Rockefeller Center site help a a boy and his family in need—then many years the boy, now grown to an old man, donates his enormous tree after learning that it will not only give pleasure but will also be used to help another family.  Afterward talks about the tradition and logistics involved with the Rockefeller Center Trees and notes that since 2007 the wood from the tree has been milled and used for Habitat for Humanity houses.) 

Book- talked: Night Tree by Eve Bunting (Every year a family decorates a tree in the woods with edible ornaments for the animals),

Book:  The Night Gardener by Terry and Eric Fan. (A boy in an orphanage and a rundown town are transformed by the magical topiary creations of the night gardener. Fascinating parallel story to compare with The Carpenter’s Gift – both have boys lives transformed by a generous stranger and the metaphor of the tool passing from generation to generation.) 

Singable Book: The Marvelous Toy by Tom Paxton (hand-me-down toy has special meaning; performed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCjslf_a11c)

 

Book: Thankful by Elaine Vickers (A child creates a paper chain listing all the things she is thankful for - a great way to cultivate gratitude - and maybe make a nightly tradition to cultivate resiliance.)

Craft: Make our own "thankful paper chains," also trees and other paper ornaments (supplies: construction paper, scissors, markers, glue sticks, stamps & stamp pads, various things to decorate with)

Afterwards, finished with an indoor snowball fight 

Activity: Snowball fight using plastic bag snowballs, to the music “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson (on album Season’s Greetings)
Making snowballs for the program:
1) Gather a white plastic grocery bag into a long, skinny tube-like length with the handles on one end.
2) Fold the length in half, then in half again.
3) Wind a rubber band around the middle until it is tight.
4) Cut open both ends to remove any folded areas.
5) Then fluff out pieces

Idea courtesy of:  Susan Dailey, librarian, speaker and author of "A Storytime Year"-  

https://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2014/01/let-it-snow-winter-storytimecraft-ages.html

More ideas at: https://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2013/12/school-age-storytime-very-special-trees.html and https://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2013/12/school-age-storytime-gifts-and-giving.html

Clarence Dillon Library 12/10/2025

Pre-School Storytime: Button Up for Winter Weather!

 

Bundle up with this program for warming up on a cold winter’s day
(and we’ve had a lot of them this year!)

Fun interactive program of stories and songs for ages 3-6

incorporating early literacy and numeracy skills, sequencing, vocabulary (unusual animals),

following directions, learning left & right,

plus an indoor snowball fight to use up some cooped-up energy!

 

Entrance Music: “Belly Button” by Joe Scruggs on his album: Late Last Night

Book: Froggy Gets Dressed – Jonathon London (kids act out motions and shout out “FROGGY...Have you forgotten something?”) (Alt. for young kids: Bear Gets Dressed: A Guessing Game Story – Harriet Ziefert, Other great underwear-themed titles: Bear in Long Underwear -- Todd H. Doodler, Naked by Michael Ian Black (kids LOVED, ended with this book in 2015- use again in 2018))

Action/Sign Language Song: When It’s Cold Outside from “Pick Me Up: Fun Songs for Learning Signs”) or  Action Song: This is the Way… (sequencing: getting dressed) (Tune: “Mulberry Bush”)
This is the way we put on our coat,
Put on our coat, put on our coat,
This is the way we put on our coat,
To play outside in the snow.
Continue with other articles of clothing…

Froggy clearly had trouble wearing clothes – so do these animals…Flannel: Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing – Judi Barrett (Cut out from a book whose spine had broken -- made it easy for us to as a Q&A: animal identification, reasoning—why wearing clothing would be a problem for the animal, vocabulary development – animal names, “suspenders”)

Action Song: We Dress Like That (mention concept of "piggy-back songs" Source Unknown, Tune: “Head & Shoulders, Knees & Toes”—repeated several times)
Boots, jacket, scarf and hat, scarf and hat.
Boots, jacket, scarf and hat, scarf and hat.
In wintertime we dress like that,
Boots, jacket, scarf and hat, scarf and hat.

Here’s another animal looking for something warm to wear…but she makes some mistakes...
Book: A Hat for Minerva Louse – Janet Morgan Stoeke  (Other mitten possibilities: The Mitten by Jan Brett (http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2014/12/winter-storytimetheatercraft-jan-bretts.html, One Mitten by Kristine O'Connell George)

Glove Puppet/Numeral Cards: Five Little Snowmen all in a Row (numeracy)
Five little snowmen all in a row,
Each with a hat and a big red bow.
Out came the sun and it stayed all day.
And one of those snowmen melted away. 4,3,2,1…

Action Song: I’m a Little Snowman (Sung to: “I’m a Little Teapot”)
I’m a little snowman, short and fat
Here is my broomstick, here is my hat
When the sun comes out, I’ll melt away
Drip, drip, drip, I’m a puddle today!

Singable Book: Frosty the Snowman – Steve Nelson
Snowmen don’t need coats to go outside, but people do!

Flannel/Song: In the Freezer (Song on Joe Scrugg’s “Traffic Jams”) lyrics to this and additional winter songs here: http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2015/01/singalong-winters-day.html

Book: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat – Simms Tabeck (folk tale with great cut-out reveals; briefly mention Caldecott Award) (Optional, show another version of same tale: Something from Nothing – Phoebe Gilman)

Another Joe who has a problem with buttons...
Action: Hi, My Name is Joe & I work in a button Factory (traditional, left-right identification)
Hi my name is Joe & I work in a button factory.
One day, my boss said “Joe, are you busy?”
“I said “no”” – so he said “Turn this button with your right hand” (do this)
Repeat: left hand, right foot, left foot, head…finally
I said YES!!!!!!”

1/2015: Or flannel/prop song (to tune: “Mary Had Little Lamb”) (memory-sequencing)
Joseph had an overcoat, overcoat, over coat…it got old and worn.
So he made a little jacket etc. ..continue thru button…lost button…then he made this little song….

1/2015: A few more buttons...
Book: Press Here – Herve Tullet (kids press the dots and are thrilled with the changes, cause & effect, numeracy, left-right identification, patterns)

along with a cat... YouTube Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons – Eric Litwin  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7va0beuK58

1/2016 – no other “snow” storytime, so instead showed Snow by Uri Shulevitz on Live Oak PPR DVD Favorite Fables Collection.

Close with Activity: indoor snowball fight using plastic bag snowballs, to the music “Sleigh Ride”, track #5 on album 20th Century Masters: Season's Greetings- The Millennium Collection
Making snowballs for the program:
1) Gather a white plastic grocery bag into a long, skinny tube-like length with the handles on one end.
2) Fold the length in half, then in half again.
3) Wind a rubber band around the middle until it is tight.
4) Trim both ends to remove any folded areas.
5) Make 2 or 3 vertical cuts in both ends.
6) Then fluff out pieces
Idea courtesy of:  Susan Dailey, librarian, speaker and author of "A Storytime Year" 

Hand Stamping Music: “Belly Button” by Joe Scruggs on his album: Late Last Night

Another great title (longer): The Trouble With Trolls - Eve Bunting

See also carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2014/12/winter-storytimetheatercraft-jan-bretts.html &
carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2014/01/let-it-snow-winter-storytimecraft-ages.html

1/13
1/15  long, so didn't do everything above.
1/16  combined snow and bundle up so didn’t do Press Here or Youtube of Pete the Cat and his Groovy Buttons

1/17  Story/Craft:  (abridged version also done for PJ time)
Book:  Froggy Gets Dressed by Jack London
Action/Sign Language Song: When It’s Cold Outside from “Pick Me Up
Acting Out with Puppets – Jan Brett’s The Mitten carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2014/12/winter-storytimetheatercraft-jan-bretts.html
Book: A Hat for Minerva Louise by Janet Morgan Stoeke
Flannel: Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing
Action Song: Boots, Jacket, Scarft & Hat
Book: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Tabeck (Caldecott—> Mock Caldecott tomorrow), mentioned folk tale, other versions including Something for Nothing by Phoebe Gilman (good for close read together, mice making things from scrap cloth)
Action: “Hi My Name is Joe & I Work in a Button Factory”
Book: Snowballs by Lois Ehlert
Flannel/Song: Joe Scrugg’s “In the Freezer”
carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2015/01/singalong-winters-day.html
Craft: Make creative snow creatures in the spirit of Ehlert’s book (flat cardboards, white paper & scissors to cut out, gluesticks, markers, stickers, shapes, and other stuff to decorate) Also had take home cut out puzzle of the pieces to make “Something from Nothing.” This is similar: storytiming.com/2011/07/15/flannel-friday-something-for-nothing-or-joseph-had-an-overcoat/

DVD: Raymond Brigg’s The Snowman playing while crafting.

The Good for Nothing Button
by Mo Willems
Yellow Bird shares an ordinary button that does nothing with Red Bird and Blue Bird, and they are delighted to find that pressing it makes them happy, which is something.

Storytime: Gifts & Giving - Bedminster School/Nicole's Special Ed Class/Bedminster Library

A storytime featuring tangible & intangible giving, with a nod to geography, interactive songs, and create your own verses. Great lead-in for holiday toy, coat & food drives.

Book: Rabbit’s Gift – George Shannon (Chinese folktale in which each animal tries to share the turnip left at his doorstep.)

Song/Flannel: Helping  by Shel Silverstein from Free to Be, You and Me. Lyrics & tune: http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2013/08/08/helping-an-illustrated-song-by-shel-silverstein/

The Gift – Gabriela Keselman (Mickey's birthday is coming and his parents cannot figure out what to do when he tells them that he wants something big, strong, smooth, sweet, warm, funny, and long-lasting)  Alternatives:  The Gift of Nothing – Patrick McDonnell or Immi’s Gift – Karin Littlewood

The Marvelous Toy by Tom Paxton (sung) (Several book versions available. Hand-me-down toy has special meaning; performed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCjslf_a11c)

(Stopped here at Clarence Dillon Library, had an indoor snowball fight - see details below -- to finish)

A gift for the animals... 

Book: Night Tree by Eve Bunting (Every year a family decorates a tree in the woods with edible ornaments for the animals)  

Who knows what a “family tree” is?

Sign Language Song: Family Tree  Song by Tom Chapin & John Forster, additional verses on their album “Family Tree”; video of their performance with signs: http://www.tomchapin.com/docs/lft.htmland and on their video “This Pretty Planet.” 
Signs handout:  http://www.tomchapin.com/docs/ftsigns.html 

Family Tree by John Forster & Tom Chapin © 1988 Limousine Music Co. & The Last Music Co. (ASCAP)
Before the days of Jello
Lived a prehistoric fellow,
Who loved a maid and courted her
Beneath the banyan tree.
And they had lots of children.
And their children all had children.
And they kept on having children
Until one of them had me!
We're a family and we're a tree.
Our roots go deep down in history
From my great-great-granddaddy reaching up to me,
We're a green and growing family tree.

My grandpa came from Russia;
My grandma came from Prussia;
They met in Nova Scotia,
Had my dad in Tennessee.
Then they moved to Yokohama
Where Daddy met my Mama.
Her dad's from Alabama and her mom's part Cherokee.
We're a family and we're a tree.
Our roots go deep down in history
From my great-great-granddaddy reaching up to me,
We're a green and growing family tree.

Well one fine day I may go
To Tierra Del Fuego.
Perhaps I'll meet my wife there
And we'll move to Timbuktu.
And our kid will be bilingual,
And though she may stay single,
She could, of course, comingle with the
King of Kathmandu.
'Cause we're a family and we're a tree.
Our roots go deep down in history
From my great-great-granddaddy reaching up to me,
We're a green and growing family tree.

The folks in Madagascar
Aren't the same as in Alaskar;
They got different foods, different moods
And different colored skin.
You may have a different name,
But underneath we're much the same;
You're probably my cousin and the whole world is our kin.
We're a family and we're a tree.
Our roots go deep down in history
From my great-great-grandmother reaching up to me, (sign for “grandmother is the same hand as grandfather, but thumb touching the chin and bouncing 2x)
We're a green and growing family tree.
We're a green and growing family.

This song appears on Tom Chapin's Family Tree CD.  More very special tree stories here: https://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2013/12/school-age-storytime-very-special-trees.html

Book: Gifts by Jo Ellen Bogart (A grandmother travels the world bringing back gifts both real and fanciful in this lovely rhyming story illustrated with three dimensional pictures created from plasticine clay. The child grows to a young woman and the grandmother gets more frail until the last page shows the child grown up with a child of her own traveling the world and concludes "and everything she shared with me I'm going to share with you." Kids might identify geographic locations mentioned on maps on the endpapers.)

Speaking of clay... Song/Flannel:  I Had a Little Dreidel (with myriad variations --source unknown -- students encouraged to make up new verses!

Song: We Wish You a Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy New Year… (lyrics to this and many other holiday songs here: http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2013/12/singalong-keep-spiritwinter-holiday.html)

If time, could add some of the materials from the programs here:  

http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/search/label/Gifts%20and%20Giving

Looking for additional special holiday titles?  Check out this bibliography: http://www.somerset.lib.nj.us/kids/PDFs/holidays2011.pdf

Activity: Snowball fight using plastic bag snowballs, to the music “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson (on album Season’s Greetings)
Making snowballs for the program:
1) Gather a white plastic grocery bag into a long, skinny tube-like length with the handles on one end.
2) Fold the length in half, then in half again.
3) Wind a rubber band around the middle until it is tight.
4) Cut open both ends to remove any folded areas.
5) Then fluff out pieces
Idea courtesy of:  Susan Dailey, librarian, speaker and author of "A Storytime Year"

Bedm., Dover Special Needs, CDPL 12/22